The anti-intellectualism movement in the Chinese Church is worrisome. Using Apostle Paul's words that "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up" in 1 Corinthians, the advocates of this movement put love and knowledge against each other, thinking that much knowledge will surely cause people to become arrogant. Furthermore, some of them even reject theological knowledge.
Is their sentiment reasonable?
After God created mankind, He gave them the responsibility to take care of the world, commanding them to "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground (Genesis 1:28)." Human beings need knowledge and reasoning to complete these tasks so the Creator gave them rationality. In order not to disappoint the Lord, who gave them important tasks, human beings need rationality and to make effort in studying various fields.
So how should we understand Apostle Paul's words? Paul is not an anti-intellectualist. He had been trained very well in the law since he was young. Having studied under the famous scholar in Jerusalem, Gamaliel, Paul understood the Old Testament deeply. Besides, his hometown, Tarsus, was home to Greek philosophy, especially the Stoic school.
Paul had learned much knowledge. He had been influenced heavily by Greek philosophy. Many scholars believe that Paul's letters contain many Stoic terms, including philosophical concepts and topics of discussion, which implies that the apostle Paul was a great scholar in both Hebrew and Greek culture.
On the one hand, when Paul said that knowledge puffs up, he was referring to the arrogant people who claim to have knowledge. On the other hand, when he said that love builds up, he did not put love and knowledge against each other; but, he talked about the order of priority between them.
We must be alert to anti-intellectualism because this idea will harm the church badly in two ways.
First, anti-intellectualism is a breeding ground for heresies.
Deeply influenced by traditional fundamentalism and Pietism, the Chinese church attaches great importance to inner life. But over the past few decades, the Charismatic Movement emphasized the importance of the emotional side of faith to the extreme and greatly impacted the faith. When the ideas of the Charismatic movement and pietism held by many Christians go to the extreme, it will inevitably bring about anti-intellectualism among them.
Anti-intellectualism led many people to reject the knowledge outside of the Bible, being proud of "reading the Bible and the Gospels only without caring for the happenings in the world". This phenomenon caused many people to become ignorant and distort the "Bible", developing a form of blind faith. Though they think of themselves as being godly, they do not know the truth. As a Puritan theologian declared "Ignorance is the origin of heresies, not the mother of godliness." In order to understand the truth, we need to have a wide range of knowledge.
Second, believers' anti-intellectualism gives a bad impression of the church on society. Currently, the vast majority of people in China have been influenced by atheism. As a result, a large number of people are either atheists or believe in folk religions. The ideas that there is no God in the universe and human beings evolved from apes have taken the position in people's hearts firmly. For them, religion is opposed to modern science similar to how opium is seen, and the anti-intellectualism in the church, that is, Christians' rejection of scientific and cultural knowledge, will undoubtedly reinforce the public's prejudice against Christianity.
It can be said that anti-intellectuals provide a realistic model for anti-religious people, leading people to believe more firmly the propaganda they hear. As a result, more people will keep a distance from the Christian faith and the church, which failed to bear a good testimony. Therefore, if Christians want to preach the Gospel and bring people to the Lord, can they afford not to learn scientific and cultural knowledge? Otherwise, how can we eliminate the prejudice of people in society putting religion and science against each other without awareness of scientific and cultural facts?
Translated by Alvin Zhou
当前中国教会存在的反智主义令人堪忧。这些人高举使徒保罗“知识使人骄傲，唯有爱心造就人”（参：林前8:1）的理论，将爱心与知识对立起来，认为有知识必然骄傲，甚至拒绝神学方面的知识。
那么这种反智主义合理吗？
上帝创造人类并赋予人世界管家的责任，让他们“要生养众多，遍满地面，治理这地。也要管理海里的鱼、空中的鸟，和地上各样行动的活物。”（创1:28）。人类要完成这些工作，自然需要理性与知识的指引。因此主赐予人理性，以担负起工作。人类需要理性，加强各种知识的学习，才能不负主的重托。
那么使徒保罗的话又当如何理解呢？保罗不是反智主义者，他从小受到严格犹太律法教育，曾在耶路撒冷著名的学者迦玛列门下学习，对旧约圣经有深入了解。而他的故乡大数又是希腊哲学，尤其是斯多葛学派兴盛之地。
保罗学到很多知识，尤其是受到希腊哲学的熏陶。很多学者认为，保罗书信中有不少斯多噶学派常用术语、哲学概念与议题，可见使徒保罗是学贯两希文化（希伯来、希腊）的大学者。
保罗之所以认为知识使人骄傲，乃是反对那些自以为有知识就狂妄自大的人；另一方面，他指出爱心能造就人，乃是认为爱心与知识之间，只是次序的问题，而不是对立的关系。
我们要警惕反智主义，因为这种观念会对教会产生严重的问题。其危害性主要有两方面。
首先，反智主义是异端的温床：中国教会深受基要派、敬虔主义的传统影响，十分注重内在生命。而这十几年来，灵恩派大肆冲击大陆教会，强调极端感性的信仰。敬虔主义、灵恩派的思潮走向极端，必然带来反智主义，而这点恰恰又存在于很多信徒的观念中。
反智主义导致不少人排斥《圣经》外的知识，以“唯读圣经”、“两耳不闻窗外事，一心只读福音书”为荣。这种现象造成不少人曲解《圣经》、信仰盲目、不知世事，主观上很敬虔，可真理上出现偏差。正如一位清教徒神学家所称，“无知是异端之源，而非敬虔之母。”我们要明白真理，就需要以广博的知识为基础。
其次，反智主义也让教会失去见证。中国教会面临的社会处境是，社会上大多数人都受无神论的影响。绝大部分人处于无神论和民间信仰的矛盾状态。宇宙中没有神、人类源于古猿进化等等思想已经先入为主。在这些人看来，宗教是与现代科学相对立的，是麻醉人民的鸦片。而教会里的反智主义——弟兄姐妹对于科学文化知识的排斥，无疑会加固民众对于基督信仰的偏见。
可以说，反智主义者为反宗教者提供了现实的样板，让广大民众愈加相信他们的宣传。结果必然是更多人远离基督信仰，教会失去了见证。因此，基督徒如果想要传福音，领人归主，能不学习科学文化知识吗？不如此何以消弭社会上宗教与科学对立的偏见呢？
教会里反智主义的危害
The anti-intellectualism movement in the Chinese Church is worrisome. Using Apostle Paul's words that "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up" in 1 Corinthians, the advocates of this movement put love and knowledge against each other, thinking that much knowledge will surely cause people to become arrogant. Furthermore, some of them even reject theological knowledge.
Is their sentiment reasonable?
After God created mankind, He gave them the responsibility to take care of the world, commanding them to "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground (Genesis 1:28)." Human beings need knowledge and reasoning to complete these tasks so the Creator gave them rationality. In order not to disappoint the Lord, who gave them important tasks, human beings need rationality and to make effort in studying various fields.
So how should we understand Apostle Paul's words? Paul is not an anti-intellectualist. He had been trained very well in the law since he was young. Having studied under the famous scholar in Jerusalem, Gamaliel, Paul understood the Old Testament deeply. Besides, his hometown, Tarsus, was home to Greek philosophy, especially the Stoic school.
Paul had learned much knowledge. He had been influenced heavily by Greek philosophy. Many scholars believe that Paul's letters contain many Stoic terms, including philosophical concepts and topics of discussion, which implies that the apostle Paul was a great scholar in both Hebrew and Greek culture.
On the one hand, when Paul said that knowledge puffs up, he was referring to the arrogant people who claim to have knowledge. On the other hand, when he said that love builds up, he did not put love and knowledge against each other; but, he talked about the order of priority between them.
We must be alert to anti-intellectualism because this idea will harm the church badly in two ways.
First, anti-intellectualism is a breeding ground for heresies.
Deeply influenced by traditional fundamentalism and Pietism, the Chinese church attaches great importance to inner life. But over the past few decades, the Charismatic Movement emphasized the importance of the emotional side of faith to the extreme and greatly impacted the faith. When the ideas of the Charismatic movement and pietism held by many Christians go to the extreme, it will inevitably bring about anti-intellectualism among them.
Anti-intellectualism led many people to reject the knowledge outside of the Bible, being proud of "reading the Bible and the Gospels only without caring for the happenings in the world". This phenomenon caused many people to become ignorant and distort the "Bible", developing a form of blind faith. Though they think of themselves as being godly, they do not know the truth. As a Puritan theologian declared "Ignorance is the origin of heresies, not the mother of godliness." In order to understand the truth, we need to have a wide range of knowledge.
Second, believers' anti-intellectualism gives a bad impression of the church on society. Currently, the vast majority of people in China have been influenced by atheism. As a result, a large number of people are either atheists or believe in folk religions. The ideas that there is no God in the universe and human beings evolved from apes have taken the position in people's hearts firmly. For them, religion is opposed to modern science similar to how opium is seen, and the anti-intellectualism in the church, that is, Christians' rejection of scientific and cultural knowledge, will undoubtedly reinforce the public's prejudice against Christianity.
It can be said that anti-intellectuals provide a realistic model for anti-religious people, leading people to believe more firmly the propaganda they hear. As a result, more people will keep a distance from the Christian faith and the church, which failed to bear a good testimony. Therefore, if Christians want to preach the Gospel and bring people to the Lord, can they afford not to learn scientific and cultural knowledge? Otherwise, how can we eliminate the prejudice of people in society putting religion and science against each other without awareness of scientific and cultural facts?
Translated by Alvin Zhou
Dangers of Anti-Intellectualism in the Chinese Church
